On The Minimum Wage

In a tweet, John Thune, Senate Minority Whip and Senior Senator of South Dakota describes how, in the 1970s, he began working bussing tables at a local restaurant for $1/hour. He slowly moved up to earning $6/hour as a cook in the same establishment which he describes as “the big league” "for a kid like him." As pointed out by many critics, these wages, with inflation, would be akin to $23/hour in 2021. In his example, Mr. Thune’s top pay was marginally more than twice that of the minimum wage of the time, which stood at $2.90 in 1979. It is clear from the senator’s story that the restaurant he dedicated himself to in his early work life had the margin of profit and the decency to pay him in a manner that respected his efforts and the value of his labor.

The senator goes on to say, however, that, “businesses in small towns survive on narrow margins. Mandating a $15 minimum wage would put many of them out of business.” One might question, if a small town business in South Dakota in the ‘70s was able to pay cooks twice the minimum wage of the time, are margins really that close, or, perhaps, are current businesses simply planning badly by banking on the ability to exploit workers in our current climate?

It is telling that those opposed to minimum wage increases do not call for establishments to skimp on other segments of their “narrow margins." Most would surely not approve of a local burger place slyly serving their customers rat meat instead of beef in order to make better profits. Nor would the average consumer be in favor of forgoing hand washing or sanitation because it might cost a little extra time or effort that could be spent elsewhere, but the majority of minimum wage opponents endorse paying workers significantly less in compensation than the actual value of their labor. Why is that? Perhaps it is because other people’s suffering is easily ignored when it is not part of one’s lived experience? Perhaps because the more fortunate often regard cheap labor as the right of those “smart enough” to escape the circumstances that lead people into the labor force?

Whether it is bias, malice, or ignorance, the current treatment of our labor force is unsustainable. Unregenerate greed, selfishness, and pompous perception of merit espoused by the ruling class is the true origin of the unviable situation we’ve found ourselves in.

The crux of the matter comes down to poor planning. Regarding the senator’s warning that businesses’ livelihoods are threatened by appropriately compensating workers, part of the cost of doing business is paying for the value of people’s time and energy. If you cannot afford those costs, you cannot afford to live out your dream of having your own business, just as one could not be allowed to forgo any other requirement in a business plan.

The amoral abuse of laborers that has become commonplace in this country has significant costs that directly threaten the health and wellbeing of our people. The financial and humanitarian strain on the workforce originates from business people, who in many cases, are not contributing in kind to the material support of the people from whence they make their fortunes. In Mr. Thune’s example, it is clear that his early labor exchange modeled appropriate business conduct, and yet somehow, the lesson offered by his first employer evaded him when he found himself in a circumstance in which he was able to pay their generous spirit forward.

We have come to a crossroads where, thanks to many intersecting circumstances, we, the labor, are unable to bear more oppression. That is not to say that there are not people willing to perform in the current climate. People have shown a horrifying capacity to survive and thrive despite the worst conditions imaginable, but securing a workforce based on their willingness to be coerced into myriad loathsome situations for the sake of their own survival hardly seems an acceptable business plan. Emotionally, physically, financially, we are being ruined by the greed and disregard of the capitalist system we are stuck in and something, dear leaders, has got to give.